


Long Live the Queen

by DarkxPrince



Series: Tales of the Light [7]
Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 07:36:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7565665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkxPrince/pseuds/DarkxPrince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oryx is dead, and what would happen if a Guardian was willing to take his place?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long Live the Queen

It was done. It was finally over. Oryx was truly dead; his massive body floating slowly toward Saturn. The other Guardians behind Rayina let out a cheer, congratulating each other before trans-matting back onto their respected ships in orbit. Rayina, however, choose to remain behind.

Above her outstretched palm, the tomb husk materialized - yet there was something wholly different about it. Instead of the burning green flames, it was black and white - as if it was surging with Taken power. Yet how would that have been possible? Did it have something to do with that fact that she was within Oryx’s throne realm? Was this ascendant plane of existence truly separate from the reality of the universe? Or did Oryx, in his last dying breathe, do something to it? And if he did, what could it possibly have been?

Yet, did it truly matter if Oryx had done something? He was dead now, the Hive hierarchy shattered and in disarray. The  _whispers_  that Rayina once heard at the corner of her mind were silent and gone. Yet that still begged the question, what happened to it? Perhaps then, the tomb husk itself did something. There was plenty that she did not understand about the Hive object. So then, was it possible that the power of the Taken King was trapped within it? Gazing into the seemingly infinite depths of the husk, she could feel the same power of the Taken.

Something bothered her, though. There was something that she was missing. Something that she had read somewhere. Some verse in a book somewhere that mentioned Oryx and the Hive and the blade logic and “there must always be a strongest.”

Stepping up to the edge of the throne realm, Rayina held out the Taken Tomb Husk toward the corpse of Oryx. The massive body of the Taken King disintegrated, absorbed into the tomb husk - yet it did not stop there. From deep within the tomb husk the power of the taken surged outward … and into Rayina. The power did not corrupt Rayina as it had the other Taken. Instead, it mingled and twisted and wove with the power of her Light.

It all made sense now. The sword-logic of the Hive: the strongest must prevail and there must always be one. Oryx was dead … and someone must replace him. The other Guardians that were with her left. They did not care about sword-logic. They did not care about the repercussions of their actions. They reveled in their victory against the God-King of the Hive, knowing that few Hive could match them now. Yet a new Hive would rise … a new Hive would  _always_ rise to fill the vacancy. Unless someone prevented it.

 _She_  would rise to fill Oryx’s place within the Hive hierarchy. By  _Her_  will would not only the Hive bend, but all of her enemies. Perhaps, even, she would bestow a fraction of this power upon other Guardians. And together, they would finally defeat anything that stood in their way.

First though, she needed to test this new strength. Her Ghost - which was not only a reflection of her Light but of her Soul - hovered above her shoulder, itself now Taken. What once was Oryx’s throne realm was now hers to do with as she willed. Yet it suited her just the way that it was. From the depths of her powers, she summoned forth a legion of Taken. As they had done to Oryx before, they bowed to her, raising their weapons above their heads.

Long live the Taken Queen.


End file.
